This, Yamaki thought to himself, is why I like sunglasses so much. He flinched as the bright light stabbed into his eyes. He could feel it trying to dig into his mind.

He couldn't recall much after his confusing, tumbling, fall between dimensions. Impmon and Chatsuramon had fared better, and had quickly secured him. The rest of a journey was a jumble, Impmon's occasional insults the only thing he remembered. There was a castle, a cell (causing him to wonder if these digimon had been watching movies on the Internet illegally, and briefly consider suing this 'sovereign' for copyright infringement), and now...this. No words or even someone to focus on. Just an area of bright light.

"Well?" Impmon asked. "He getting vaped, or what?"

Chatsuramon grumbled. "The True Sovereign is trying to scan his mind, to see what this maggot knows."

"He was trying to wreck this place, what else is there?"

Chatsuramon snarled as Yamaki struggled again. "Much, Impmon. There is much to learn from him..."

Digicross Tamers Episode 24

'The Dreaming Prisoner!'

Real World

"Can we GO yet?" Kazu asked.

"I don't know." Talli asked, a bit acidly. "You make partners out of any more digimon? We do have a slight PROBLEM with monsters running loose all over Tokyo."

"One sec!" Metal Agumon yelled. He had spent the last few hours rooting through a pile of old clothing, insisting that he 'blend in' with the humans in the city. "Okay, how's this?"

Everyone there, other digimon included, just stared. Metal Agumon was wearing a baseball cap, turned backwards, a sports jersey with '00' in large letters, and had somehow managed to find and tie a bandanna around his neck. "Well?"

"We'll talk." Kenta sighed. "But the bandanna goes. Now."

"Aw, come on! Show some guts, kid, ya gotta make a statement, right?"

"'I am insane' is not a statement."

Digital World

"So, who's Hiroki?" Ryo asked.

"Eh?" Hitomi gasped, looking away, praying she wasn't blushing.

"You were talking about him in your sleep. So, he your boyfriend?" Ryo ignored the low growl from Cyberdramon. Noctowl seemed content to ignore the byplay.

"Ryooo..."

"I should have known." Ryo sighed dramatically. "First girl I see in two years, and she's already taken." Hitomi mumbled something. "Ah, I'm sorry. It's just...Like I said before, I haven't talked to another human in two years. You start forgetting things. Ahh...sorry." Hitomi nodded. "But let me just say, on behalf of all male digidestined everywhere...darn."

Help, Hitomi thought to herself. The teen aged dimensional counterpart of my godfather is HITTING on me.

Elsewhere in the Digital World

Eevee sniffed the ground. "Majiramon." he growled.

Rika and Renamon looked over the ruined city. "What happened?" Rika whispered. "Renamon? Renamon?" Rika's partner didn't acknowledge her. Then, she leaped, covering the distance between them and the city in seconds. "Wait!" Rika called, running after her.

Rika and Eevee eventually caught up with Renamon, who was kneeling in front of a building. There was only one wall left standing, and that was balancing precariously. Inside were small pieces of...eggshells?

Renamon spoke up. "This is Seiryu City. And here is the dojo where I trained."

And, the obligatory dungeon scene

When Yamaki came to, he was back in his cell. "You think they'd be a little more original." he mused.

"Well, what do you expect for a world based on computers? Long on intelligence, but a little short of creativity."

Yamaki looked around. "Who's there?"

"I'm in the next cell. I saw them drag you in a few minutes ago. I take it the Sovereign is as pleasant as ever?"

"I wouldn't know. This is my first interrogation. And you are?"

"I...I don't remember, really. I know I'm a prisoner here, but, aside from the occasional mind probes and dips in boiling oil, I've been treated well enough. I think...Shibumi? Does that mean anything?"

Yamaki's eyes widened. "You're the one who created all this."

"Oh, so it's all my fault, is it?"

"You don't remember any of it? The artificial intelligence project? The Monster Makers? Dolphin? Babel? Tao? How about McCoy or Wong?"

"Hmm...yeah, that does ring a bell. Have I been here long?"

"I've spent the last two years looking for you."

Southern Castle, Zhuquiamon's lair

The gate to Zhuquiamon's castle slammed open, and the giant bird Sovereign flew in, and landed on his throne. "I have the catalyst. Now I can save and purify the digital world. First will be that so-called fake sovereign. Then those humans that dare to try and control us. And then...eh?"

Zhuquiamon glanced at the cage he had put Calumon in. Which was empty. And had the bottom hanging off.

The Southern Castle shook with Zhuquiamon's roar of anger. His soldiers waited for a few minutes, then hastened to respond to their lord's call. They were loyal, but not stupid, after all.

Somewhere in the Digital World

Calumon, meanwhile, was wandering all over the place. "This is sure a big place. Yeah, It does look familiar. But you've never been here before?"

Two Goblimon watched the small white digimon run around. "He talkin' to himself?" one asked.

"I once knew this Psychemon who slammed back some of Jijimon's rotgut. He was talking to himself for a week."

"I don't know, he looks...young to be drinking that slop."

"Slop? Hey, that stuff can't be had for love nor money! It's the uber-drink!"

Calumon, happily chatting away with the Unown in his head, failed to notice the two Goblimon start punching each other.

Dungeon Scene, II

"That's all I know about the Monster Makers." Yamaki sighed. "Any of this ringing a bell?"

"Yeah, more now. Thanks. I know that my real name's Goro Mizuno. And I remember the university project, but not much else. So...we created all this?"

"Yes. And it took my son from me."

"Oh." Awkward silence.

"Although I hear he's alive here in this world somewhere."

"Can't help you. Sorry."

"Forget it. I can find him and kill you once we get out of here."

Shibumi hmph'd at that. "Well, as long as one of us has a plan. Beats what I normally do."

"And that is?"

"Dream. When I'm not being tortured, I dream of the real world. And bits of what you told me. I had...Did I have a son?"

Yamaki thought for a second. "Not that I ever found out."

"A shame. I think...I think I might have been better, if I did."

Real World

"This is nice." Metal Agumon said, looking around the(partially ruined) city. "I could learn to like it here."

"Umm...shouldn't we be back at Hypnos or something?" Kenta asked, still uneasy. He fingered his D-scanner, trying not to flinch at every sound that might herald a new digimon attacker.

"Nahh, I was cracking up in that place. Let Zero and...what's his face?"

"Kazu?"

"Yeah, Kazu. Let them stay behind." Metal Agumon omitted the fact that Reilly, in concert with Kazu's parents, had clamped down fairly hard on him and Zero (who had no problem with staying out of trouble. His father decided Zero could be a good influence on his son. If Kazu'd stop cackling and fainting every time his name came up.). "I wanna go find food!"

"It'll be hard," Kenta replied, "seeing as a lot of digimon have trashed most of the city."

"You give up too easy. Hey, over there! I smell baking!" Metal Agumon was off, running down the street.

"Wait!" Kenta cried, running after the digimon. As you might have expected, both failed to notice the swirls of fog coming out of the alleyway they just passed.

Dungeon III…But not for much longer

"Ah, they're here." Shibumi said suddenly.

"Huh? Who?" Yamaki looked around, then gasped as several white floating...catfish?...appeared around him.

"Digi-gnomes." Shibumi explained. "It must be time for my monthly escape."

"Monthly?" Yamaki wondered if, as Spider Robinson had once put it, Shibumi had ceased to be usefully nuts, and was just nuts.

"Oh yes. We escape, I wander around, then the Devas show up and drag me back. It's fun. Should be interesting, if the number of Devas has gone down."

"But...where...?" Yamaki stammered, as his body dematerialized.

Ruins of Seiryu City

Renamon slowly walked out of the ruins of the city to where Rika was waiting. "My sensei, Were Garurumon, was there. He would not leave the city for any reason." Rika nodded. "There have been no new digi-eggs for some time." she added, getting a gasp from Rika. Eevee didn't react. "He is gone."

"But...how-"

"There is no Primary Village, like in Hitomi's world." Renamon explained. "Digieggs appear virtually anywhere there is not a city. But, some time ago, about the time that digimon lost the ability to digivolve, no new digi-eggs were found.

"As far as I know, I was one of the last digimon born. We all assumed that some great menace threatened the digital world, so everyone began fighting, trying to increase their own strength. I came here and trained. You know the rest."

Rika was almost speechless. "R-Renamon..."

Renamon managed a smile. "It is alright Rika. Seiryu city was my home. Now, you are my home. Where you go, I will follow, no matter what happens." She glanced at the horizon. "We should find Hitomi. Eevee?"

"Not a word." the pokemon promised.

Digital Plain

Ryo ran up the hill, drawn by the shriek. Somehow, he knew what Hitomi had found.

Hitomi was standing at the top of the hill, looking over a wide plain. She was trembling slightly, one hand pointed out over the plain, the other under her chin. "Th...those are..."

"Yeah." Ryo said quietly. "I should have warned you. Those are digieggs. Or what's left of them." The plain was covered with millions of fragments, all dull and blackened. "One day, I saw new digieggs appear, and then, just...break, like there was nothing in them."

"I knew there was trouble, but...Is this the Sovereign's doing?"

"I don't know." Ryo admitted. "Come on. Hey." Ryo put his arms around Hitomi. "Easy, it's all right."

"No, it's not." Hitomi replied, shaken. "All those digimon are...dead."

"Yeah." Ryo said after a second. "Come on, let's get away from here. Let's find your friends, alright?" He was a bit puzzled. It was a bit disturbing, but Hitomi seemed too shaken by the sight. He sighed, added 'sensitive' to his perception of Hitomi (Which already included 'cute', 'smart', and, regrettably, 'taken'), and led her away.

Real World

When digimon had first appeared, Kenta had promised himself that he wouldn't scream and run around like an extra in a Gojira movie. He'd be calm, maybe not brave, but he would try to keep a clear head.

So, as Allomon's fireball impacted in front of a snarling Metal Agumon, Kenta screamed and ran for cover.

"Ahh...YEAH, YOU GET TO COVER!" Metal Agumon shouted. "I'll handle this creep! Lightning Spike!" (Animation note: Metal Agumon spits a ball of electricity up, jumps up after it and spikes it down at Allomon, volleyball style.) "Yeah! You want some more?"

"Stop trash talking the giant dinosaur!" Kenta groaned.

"Hey, trash talking's an essential part of any fight! But if you wanna make with the cards now, I'd APPRECIATE it!"

"Uhh...right!" Kenta answered, taking a card out. "Digi-modify! Dark Shot activate!"

"Kiss your butt goodbye! Dark Shot!" The missile streaked off of Metal Agumon's back, and slammed into Allomon. It was forced back, but not beaten. "We ROCK!"

"We're gonna be gravel!" Kenta answered. "Look out!" Allomon's head snapped forward, striking Metal Agumon.

Digital World

Yamaki stopped questioning his sanity. Every time he thought he had this place figured out, it changed on him. He had reappeared in what looked like a giant library. "Where are we?"

"You kn how the Internet is the Information Superhighway?" Shibumi asked wryly. "Well, here's the main exchange. All the information in the world is here." He waved his arms at the near-infinite stacks of books. "It used to be one of the Sovereigns' castles. Ebonwumon, I think. Big two headed turtle. No one's seen him in a while. Them. Whatever."

"Wait. What do you mean 'one of the sovereign'? There's more than one?"

"Used to be four. Then they all...vanished. Zhuquiamon's off in the south, apparently paranoid of all things human, Baihumon's vanished-"

"He was handled." Yamaki interrupted.

"Ah. Anyway, Azulongmon's only shown up a few times, and no one's even seen Ebonwumon since this all started. Where are all the Devas, anyway? They'd know."

"The Devas attacked our world and were destroyed."

"Shame. A lot of them went bad, but a couple of them were still good. I wonder if Indramon's around?"

Yamaki did some arithmetic. "He hasn't shown up. I think he might be the last one." (Note: If he's not, please let me know. I've lost track! -ed). "Strange. They claim to hate humans, but base their appearance on human mythology. But then, that's what a lot of this place was based on."

"I suppose. Yeah. I blame our humanities professor."

"Professor Emil Carlington, Masters in ancient mythology." Yamaki thought for a second. "You got a B-."

"Thank you, agent Smith." Shibumi sighed. At Yamaki's glance, he indicated a small room. "Caught a video of it in there."

"Movie piracy. Great." Yamaki moaned, ignoring Shibumi's laughter.

Real World

Metal Agumon got up, having just recovered from a rather nasty tumble into a large dumpster. "Huh...nice dent." he managed, still staggering a bit. "How we doing?"

"LOUSY!" Kenta wailed, being chased by Allomon.

"Ahh, we've had worse. Hey, DINO-BUTT! That your nose or a disease?" Allomon stopped, growling at the smaller digimon. "Yeah, YOU! With the earring! Feathers went out last year, by the way!" Metal Agumon winked for effect. Allomon howled, and charged. Metal Agumon dodged one claw swipe, then ducked under the legs of the larger dinosaur. "Slow-poke!"

Allomon's response was, for him, innovative. He sat down, crushing Metal Agumon, and drawing not a few cries of horror (and a few colourful metaphors to boot). The basic grossness of the attack got to Kenta, despite his panic.

"Little HELP here!" Metal Agumon yelled.

"Ah..ahhh...WHAT DO I DO?"

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?"

Think, Kenta, just think...Gasping, Kenta had an idea. He took a card out, prayed that he wouldn't mess this up like Takato had, and slashed it. "Digi-Modify! Ultra Digivolution activate!"

"YEAH! Metal Agumon, digivolve to...MECHA AGUMON!" The new form was larger, easily twice as large as Metal Agumon had been (And Metal Agumon was fairly large, just shy of Guilmon's height, Kenta realized.) Gunmetal grey hide, faint whirring noises as joints flexed.

Allomon stepped back, startled. "But...Digimon aren't supposed to be able to digivolve..." he protested.

"Heh. Shows what you know, pal. Now...ME GRIMLOCK KICK BUTT!" Mecha Agumon roared, jumping on Allomon. (Kenta, too young to have seen the glory that is Transformers G1, missed the reference. And no, he doesn't transform. But Mecha Agumon fighter mode does sound cool. Maybe an armor evolution...And getting Hitomi's digiegg would make his day. -ed). The spindly forearms clasped together, electricity gathering. "Ball Lighting!" he called, hurling (Well, more like stuffing) a large sphere of energy into Allomon's spine. The digimon vanished, falling apart into thousands of small bits. "Shame he wasn't farther away. I can drill that Ball Lighting like Canseco at the Series."

"?"

Mecha Agumon nodded. "Yeah. I kinda snagged some stuff while I was chilling with the adults. Man, those guys need to lighten up. Come on, I'm hungry."

"Buhh..."

"Hey, it's me! And you need to get away from that dufus Kazu."

"He's-"

"Yeah, yeah. You gotta stop letting people tell you what to do all the time. Except me, of course." Mecha Agumon took his partner by the arm, pitched him on his back, and tromped down the street.

And that's how a very confused Kenta nearly wound up on the evening news, and nearly got assassinated by The Monster Makers. Mecha Agumon?

He discovered bread.

Digital World

"Okay, what's going on here?" Yamaki demanded.

"Well, I'm reading this book, you're pacing around-"

"No. Why all this? Why did the Devas attack us?"

Shibumi shrugged. "This world is dying." Yamaki stopped. "There haven't been any new digimon born for two years or so. Also, parts of this world are, well, going wrong. And digimon are starting to act unusually.

"It's like a computer hard drive. Once it reaches a certain age, it breaks down. The early symptoms can include data loss and system errors. I know that the old Sovereigns tried to do something about it, but I guess it didn't work. There was something about a catalyst..."

"Calumon." Yamaki said. "Whoever's in charge now was interested in it. Him."

"Hmm. Well, Mister Yamaki, I believe you, if what you've told me about Hypnos is true, will get your wish. This world will die, and take all the digimon with it. I suppose the True Sovereign has some plan about moving to our world and taking it over. Or taking it with him."

"And us." Yamaki retorted. And my son, he didn't say. "And all you can do is sit there and read?"

"Nothing better to do. Besides, someone usually shows up to take me back after a while. I don't know why they don't take stronger measures to try and capture me. It's almost like they're treating me with kid gloves. I'd be flattered, if I knew why."

"Listen." Yamaki said, voice intense. "We can't stay here."

"Why not. It's not like we have anywhere to go."

"Yes we do! My SON is out there!" Shibumi sat up, startled. "Now either help me or get out of my way."

The door opened at that moment. A giant...bipedal horse, to Yamaki's eyes, strode in, massive conch shell strapped to its back. He looked badly injured. "I have news." Indramon said.

Next Episode:

Takato, Henry, and Jeri find come across some familiar faces.

Rika and Renamon find someone...but not who they were expecting

Cyberdramon faces...The Behemoth?

Digicross Tamers Episode 25

Takato Yojimbo!